This was written for the 2012 Summer Challenge for Team Discipline for the SPN_Spankings lj group. I was lucky enough to have it voted favorite story for my team. ! Thanks guys!
"DEAN WINCHESTER!" Bobby roared as he snapped the belt in his hands, the sound resonating through Sheriff Jody Mill's five acre yard like a gunshot.
Wuh oh. Dean's ears pricked up from where he lay under Jody's car in the detached garage doing an oil change, passing the time and trying to keep his mind off the inevitable.
"Where the hell are ya, ya damn igit?!" Bobby bellowed.
This talk's gonna be worse than I thought, Dean thought, his tongue darting out to lick his lips as he pushed out from under the car, wiping his hands on a shop towel.
"You got til the count of three to show yourself, boy," Bobby called out. "…you don't want me comin' ta look for ya," he grumbled mostly to himself.
Dean's eyes widened as he crouched behind the car, SonofaBITCH, now he's counting?
"ONE," Bobby yelled, looking around.
"Bob-by," Dean rasped out in a placating tone.
Bobby looked towards the garage but saw no Dean.
"TWO!" Bobby called towards where Dean's voice had come from, anger radiating off of him.
"Dammit Bobby, I'm not a child!" Dean tried to growl out the words, but ultimately they came out in a whine. The fact that he still hadn't shown himself did not help his case.
"I'd never do this to a child," Bobby said in an irritated, accusatory voice. He waited a moment, but Dean still didn't show himself.
"THREE! That's it," Bobby growled, marching into the garage where he suspected Dean was, slapping the leather belt against his own hip in irritation.
Realizing something needed to be done to help his case, Dean stood up from behind the car, arms aloft in a surrender position, and shot Bobby his best 'I screwed up and I'll never do it again' grin.
Bobby stopped and stared him down. "I oughta give you a bare assed whipping," he told him.
Grin gone, Dean said "Just … hear me out," knowing from experience that 'I oughtas' were actually 'I'm gonnas' with Bobby.
Bobby snapped his own hip with the belt again and narrowed his eyes.
"Please," Dean said, grimacing at the way the word came out.
Bobby huffed and leaned against a work table. "This oughta be good," he said.
Dean ran his tongue over his lips, trying to figure out the best way to make his case.
"Look, I know you didn't want me taking the job alone…" Dean started, hands up and eyes wide to make his point.
"Damn straight, it's at least a two man job," Bobby growled.
Dean swallowed, "Sammy is off being Sammy, Cas is dead and you had your own thing. You were at least a day out and kids were dying, Bobby." Dean furrowed his brow and even attempted one of Sammy's puppy dog expressions.
Bobby eye balled him for a long moment, totally unimpressed. "This sounds more like a Sam speech than a Dean speech," he said. "Let me tell ya how I think it went down," Bobby said darkly, causing Dean to swallow nervously and purse his lips. "I think you got sore about what's been going on with you and Sam, not to mention everything else that's been goin' on, and needed to blow off a little steam. You waited til I was far enough away and then ditched your research to do just that first chance ya got. … Am I right?"
Dean started a couple times, eyes again wide, before finally settling on "It wasn't anything I couldn't handle, you'd a done the same thing."
"NOT ANYTHING YOU COULDN'T HANDLE?!" he roared. Seeing Dean flinch in what looked like real fear, Bobby took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes once more. "That ain't what I asked you. Not that it didn't answer my question," Bobby said, giving Dean a meaningful look. Bobby folded his arms, squared his jaw and asked "How do you kill a Thelgeth?"
Dean sighed, looking at the floor as various nervous emotions played out on his face.
"Today?!" Bobby snapped, wanting an answer right then and knowing Dean was stalling for time.
Dean clenched his jaw. "You gotta get'em to come to you," he muttered quietly.
"That ain't how it's done!" Bobby yelled, spittle flying, as he smacked his thigh harder than he meant to with the belt. The pain intensified his glare at Dean.
Dean could barely hold Bobby's gaze.
"Tell me how you hunt Thelgeths, Dean!"
"You bait'em," Dean said quietly, looking at the floor again. "One hunter is the bait, the other covers'em. Double the chance of killing it."
"Double the chance of surviving the hunt," Bobby said in a pained and exasperated tone. His eyes took on an icy look, "What did you do?"
Dean looked up, "It was killing…"
"What did you do?"
Dean swallowed and then sighed, "I went solo and was my own bait."
"Igit," Bobby spat. "Did it ever occur to you that you were on a death mission? That I'd be back in a day and we could take it out together? Did it ever occur to you that your life is too precious for a kamikaze mission?!"
Dean glanced up at Bobby a few times, unable to keep eye contact for any length of time, his eyes finally resting on his shoes.
"Well?!" Bobby demanded.
"No."
"Don't you think we've lost enough already? What am I gonna do if I lose one of my boys, Dean? What's Sam gonna do if you're gone? What if I hadn't found you in time?"
Dean's chin began to quiver and he wiped a hand over his eyes. "I'm sorry, Bobby," he said.
"You're gonna be. Get over here."
Dean hesitated as the job that had gotten him in this mess flashed before his eyes…
"Balls," Bobby spat, slamming the phone back into its receiver.
Dean looked up from his spot at the kitchen table, beer in hand, waiting for an explanation.
"That was Jody, she's just outside South Dakota in Luverne – says she got a report of odd things goin' on, checked it out. Looks organized enough to be our Leviathan buddies, but no one is gone missing," Bobby explained before grinding out an irate, "We don't need them changing their damn MO."
"We checking it out then?" Dean asked.
"Naw, I'm gonna head out that way and take a look with her." Bobby turned and pointed at Dean. "I need you here, reading up on'em and trackin'em best you can from this cabin," he said a-matter-of-factly.
Dean sighed but nodded, pursing his lips in unvoiced irritation.
As Bobby went to get his bag, Dean grumbled to himself as he switched from beer to whiskey, "Yeah, cuz research is my freakin' specialty and sittin' in a cabin all by myself is exactly what I wanna be doin' right now."
"What was that?" Bobby asked, only slightly letting on that he knew Dean was bitching at him under his breath.
Dean gave him a somewhat snide look, but then his expression softened, "Be careful, ok Bobby?"
Bobby gave him a warm nod before turning and leaving to help Jody.
Dean listened as Bobby made his way to the pick-up and sighed as Bobby's door closed and the engine started. He bent his head back to glare at the ceiling as Bobby drove away, waiting until he couldn't hear the truck anymore to push away from the table angrily.
Pacing, and faced with alone time to ponder his troubles, Dean poured himself more whiskey. …and then some more. …and then some more after that, until the bottle was empty.
Why couldn't Sammy understand why he had to kill Amy? She was a monster who killed humans, for Christ's sake. It had to be done. And after everything he'd done for his family, all he'd done for his brother, why was Sammy still always picking other… No, his mind yelled at him, he wasn't going there. Sammy'd come back. Had to.
Dean pulled out his phone to call his brother, but then pocketed it again.
Heaving a deep sigh, he sat back down at the table and fired up his laptop. In between research – which so far was going nowhere - he checked out porn sites, and when a scene came up that had a little spanking in it, he chuckled, thinking of Castiel's reaction to seeing porn and the angel's uncomfortable insistence in describing the scenes to him and Sammy. That had been totally disturbing at the time, but it was actually pretty damn funny now…until the laughter lifted some of the haze of the whiskey and it hit Dean like a bullet that Cas was dead.
Dead. And not 'in heaven' dead either, no – Cas was non-existent, totally gone, ripped apart and eaten by Leviathan.
Dean swallowed the bile in this throat, clicked his laptop shut and went in search of more whiskey, only to find empty bottles. Opening the fridge, he saw four beers – but that wasn't enough for what he needed. Doing a check of what else they needed at the cabin, Dean set off for the convenience store a few towns over.
He drove in a daze, caused in part from the alcohol still in his system and in part from the emotions he kept strangled down, and pulled into the parking lot a little faster than he intended so that he had to screech the tires to park. Seeing that no one took notice, he entered the store and began grabbing junk food, bottles of whiskey, frozen and canned dinners, a couple pies and the daily paper. Stuffing everything in the trunk, he made his way back to the cabin, unpacked his goods and sat to a meal of Spaghetti O's and Jack Daniels.
Grabbing the folded daily Whitefish newspaper from across the table, he flipped it open and looked at the front page:
"Whitefish, MT Boy Found Half Devoured in Todd County, SD – Officials Stumped"
The half-eaten body of nine year old Braden Ossip, son to Angie and Cliff Ossip of the local Ossip farm, was found by a search team yesterday evening at the edge of a forest forty feet east of State Highway 63 and a mile south of Highway 7 on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. According to eye witness accounts, the body had six inch claw marks on the arms and torso and long hairs of unknown origin were found at the scene, leaving officials stumped. There are no suspects and officials do not believe foul play was involved, but rather that it was a wild animal attack. The Ossips were visiting relatives in the area, and were unavailable for comment. Funeral arrangements are currently being made.
Dean pushed his Spaghetti O's away and scrubbed a hand over his face. A kid, he thought. Flipping open his laptop, he began to do some research, quickly finding a similar pattern of missing people or decayed body parts, some kids, some adults – but all males - all over four states through the old Sioux lands in a trail that led right to Todd County. The killings and missing persons cases had been going on – unconnected – for two months. The few remains recovered were found long after death and had been gnawed by other wildlife.
"Jesus, right under our damn noses," Dean hissed, finding sighting accounts of a large, hairy and headless creature that followed the same trail as the killings.
A little more research and he had a name for the creature: a Thelgeth, one type of supposed alien god that were enemy to humans. Thelgeths were mythical man eating monsters in Sioux lore, thought to of been killed off by twin brothers Nayenezgani and Tobadzistsini.
"I'd say you missed a few," Dean muttered to himself.
Checking his dad's journal, Dean read how to hunt and kill them: team of at least two [three or four best] hunters – never hunt this creature alone; bait them when the sun is low before evening with a live human male in a covered clearing close to where others have gone missing/been found dead; shoot through the heart [in usual spot] with silver; salt and burn. Creature is headless, mouth where neck should be, sharp claws, long haired. Saliva numbs – too much knocks you out. Eats for four months, sleeps for eighty years. Found in Sioux lands. Solitary.
Looking online, Dean saw it was a sixteen hour drive, just four and a half hours west of where Bobby and Jody were.
"'Eats for four months,'" Dean read again from the journal. "He's got two more months of feeding to do."
Glaring at the screen, Dean dug his phone out of his jean pocket and called Bobby.
"What?!" Bobby answered on the other line.
"This a bad time?" Dean asked snidely.
"What the hell do you think?" was Bobby's instant response.
"Sounds like you got your hands full," Dean said.
"Yeah, you could say that - get to the point," Bobby said in his crotchety manner.
"We got something eating kids four and a half hours west of you, pretty sure it's a Thelgeth," Dean answered.
Bobby grunted, and then said "Ok, I should be done here in a day or so. Head out this way, but keep your distance – Thelgeths are nasty, we'll hit it together."
"I can take this one, Bobby," Dean said quickly, hoping to kill the monster quickly and then get on whatever Jody found with Bobby. "You just do your thing, we can meet up after."
"Dean, I don't want you taking this on by yourself. It's at least a two man job," Bobby warned.
"If I can handle angels and demons…" Dean started, an egotistical smirk pulling at his lips.
"Dean," Bobby growled, "leave it be til I can get there or call another hunter to help you. You can't take a Thelgeth alone, can't be done unless you're female, they feed on boys and men – got it?"
Irritation flashed across Dean's face and he huffed into the phone. "Got it," he said and disconnected the call.
Sitting back in his chair, he grabbed his glass of Jack and glared at the screen, downing the contents of the glass in one go.
"To hell with this," he growled, getting up and preparing his guns with silver rounds, then organizing and packing them; that done, he loaded snacks, whiskey and the weapons into the car, grabbed his laptop and took off for Todd County. He tried calling what few hunters he still knew on the way, but none answered.
The drive was easy enough; he'd made good time, driving through the night when there was no traffic helped shave an hour off of the sixteen hour drive. With the closest motel almost an hour away from the Thelgeth's hunting ground, Dean chose to camp out in his car instead, keeping a ten mile distance from where the boy had been found. He got some sleep, found a local diner to eat at and started canvassing the area for signs of the Thelgeth.
It didn't take long for him to find where the boy was found, there were still officials finishing up their work, and Dean pulled up behind one of their vehicles parked along the two lane highway and watched after he noted a few other curious onlookers doing the same thing.
Well, if he were stupid enough to hang around here, they'd of caught'em already, Dean thought to himself. Pulling out his Dad's journal, he read over the description again: 'covered clearing' … 'solitary.'
Dean looked around at the lay of the land through the windows of the car, seeing another forest on the other side of the highway a few acres out. It was the only other area nearby with coverage in this area of flat land. Putting the car back into gear, he sidled the car past the parked cars and drove towards the forest.
Looking at his watch, Dean saw he only had a little over two and a half hours to track, bait and kill this thing before night fell if he wanted to be done today. Gripping the steering wheel tighter, he grabbed the map in the seat next to him, glancing at it as he tried to get an idea of the layout of roads around the forest and the best place to park.
"C'mon, where's a good place?" he asked himself after making a couple of turns, trying to find an area that'd have a lot of cover. He reasoned that, with all the people around, the Thelgeth probably went into deeper, harsher terrain and he drove until he saw the tree line jut up, showing that there was a hill in the forest.
"Bingo," he said, his adrenalin starting to pump upon finding a narrow dirt road. Dean drove the car in far enough to be hidden and then killed the engine.
Grabbing his gear, Dean said, "Let's see if you'll nibble on some home delivery" as he set off to look for signs that a monster was hiding out nearby.
It took about two hours before Dean found tracks in some loose dirt. They were much larger than his own and were split into two pointed toes in the front. Dean followed them up and over a hill and to a stream with a wide clearing.
This looks like the place, Dean thought, sliding a gun from his bag into the back of his jeans and then checking his knife at his hip. He then went for a stroll down the gravel edge of the stream, kicking at crawdads as he kept an eye on the tree line, trying to bait the monster into rushing him.
He skipped a few rocks and then got bored, going back to his gear bag, which he'd left up the bank, for a beer. Just as he bent to unzip the bag he heard a branch snap in the forest and pounding feet coming towards him.
It happened so quick that he only just had time to grab his gun, his eyes going wide at seeing the seven foot Thelgeth bearing down on him. It had a mouth about a foot and a half wide in between its shoulders and each tooth seemed to be long and jagged. It ran at him hunched, mouth first, and Dean couldn't figure out how the hell it was able to be so quiet in the woods because there weren't any eyes or ears! He brought the gun up as he ran backwards from it and, before he could even aim, the Thelgeth spit at him, hitting him in his gun hand with a large amount of foul smelling phlegm. His hand was instantly numb and the gun fell just as the creature was on him. Dean awkwardly reached across his waist and grabbed the knife with his left hand, stabbing at the Thelgeth wherever he could as the creature laid him out flat on the ground.
The Thelgeth rolled off with a loud, angry roar, licking its claws and sticking them in its wounds as Dean caught his breath and jumped up. In a split second the Thelgeth got on all fours and spit again. Dean tried to dodge, but it just happened so quick! He remembered Bobby's words as he heard the knife fall on the gravel, 'You can't take a Thelgeth alone.'
Dean stumbled backwards slowly, knowing he was done. This was how he was gonna go out. Sweat ran into his eyes, blurring his vision and he blinked over and over, trying to clear his sight as the Thelgeth slowly stalked him, toying with him.
Dean, off balance from not being able to feel either arm from the elbow down, tripped on a log and fell on his back; unable to get up without the use of his arms he pushed himself backwards with his feet, the sound of the gravel loud in his ears. The Thelgeth came closer and closer, crawling on all fours, which Dean knew it was only doing to fuck with him. It could walk upright just fine.
He was determined to die bravely, but as it reached him Dean felt the back of his eyes burn with tears and he couldn't help the few whimpers that escaped his lips. "God no." Sammy. He'd never make things right with Sammy. What'd happen to the kid without him around? How could I be so stupid?!
The creature breathed hot, wet breath on him and Dean felt the bile rise in his throat. "Fuck you, you son of a bitch," Dean growled at the creature.
"Hey!" a voice yelled from the forest.
The Thelgeth twisted around to look, growling at the interruption.
An Indian man a little older than Dean stood just out from the tree line holding a stick up like a weapon.
The Thelgeth turned back to Dean and spit on his legs, then stood and began to rush the man, and that's when Dean heard Bobby's voice thunder "You stay away from my boy, you sonofabitch!" and as the Thelgeth turned to face Bobby full on, Bobby shot it through the heart. The Thelgeth staggered, giving a hoarse cry as it fell to the ground.
Bobby ran towards Dean, dropping onto his knees as they made popping noises, and grabbing Dean to him. "Are you hurt?"
Dean shook his head no.
"You stupid stupid igit, what the hell did I tell you?!" Bobby scolded as he squeezed Dean into him, tucking him under his chin.
"M'sorry, Bobby," Dean all but whimpered, his face buried in Bobby's chest. Bobby shook his head at the sky, squeezing Dean tighter as he tried to reign in his anger.
"That was pretty close, young man," Dean recognized the stern voice as belonging to Jody and pressed his face harder into Bobby's chest before pulling away to look at her.
He was shocked to see five men with her, all Indian, including the one who'd had the stick. Dean instantly felt humiliated and hung his head as Bobby kept him propped up against him.
"We had our best hunters on the Thelgeth," the oldest man of about seventy years old said. "Bobby got here a couple of hours ago and told me what was going on."
"We'd of had him earlier if you hadn't shown up," the largest of the other men said. "We almost had him when he stopped and came to the stream to hunt you. What you did was idiotic," he told Dean in a hot voice as he glared at him. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Dean closed his eyes, feeling his face grow hot. "I didn't know," he said, looking at them all. "I'm sorry."
"You're gonna be," Bobby told him, and Dean felt his face grow even hotter.
"Don't get the spit on you," the old man said, looking to see where Dean's arms were. "We need to wash it off of him before we move him."
"Move me?" Dean said warily.
"Can you feel your hands at all?" The old man asked as he bent close to Dean to look him over.
"No," Dean admitted sheepishly.
The old man nodded as he stood straight again, "I remember stories from my youth. They said that the spit of a Thelgeth numbs for a few hours' time." Looking at the younger men with him he said, "Pour your water over his arms. You, pull off his flannel and wipe the spit off with it; you, pull his jeans off and clean them off, wipe down his legs."
"Hey, now wait a second," Dean started when one of the men reached for the button of his jeans.
"I got this," Bobby said, deftly unbuttoning and unzipping Dean's jeans as Dean tried to wriggle away from him. "Stop movin', stay still – we gotta clean this off of ya," Bobby scolded.
"Bobby," Dean whined quietly up at him, embarrassed to have his jeans taken off, but Bobby hushed him with a glare.
It was weird for Dean to watch, but not be able to feel, the men cleaning the spit away. He felt humiliated, a grown hunter having to sit there and be cleaned like some infant. He couldn't help the pitiful looks he flashed up at Bobby every now and then.
The harsh, narrow-eyed look Bobby was giving him didn't help matters. Jody didn't look sympathetic at all, either. Dean sighed and laid his head against Bobby's chest until he was properly cleaned.
The old man looked at Bobby, "He's safe to move now." Then, looking at the man who'd lectured Dean a moment ago, the old man said, "Joe, carry him back for Bobby and Jody. The rest of us need to dispose of the Thelgeth's body."
"Bobby," Dean grumbled, not wanting 'Joe' carrying him back, especially not in his skivvies.
"I think I'll stay and help, Tom, make up for the trouble my boy caused," Bobby said to Dean's shock, digging the keys for his car out of his jean pocket. "I need some time to calm down anyway. Joe, you take'em back to Jody's car for me? We ain't parked far."
"Bobby!" Dean looked from Bobby to Tom, the old man, and finally to Joe, who was glaring down at him.
"My pleasure," Joe said, bending down and pulling Dean up and over his shoulder so quickly that Dean was surprised at how fast he was staring at the ground. The man was solidly built like Sam, making Dean feel all the more emasculated with the ease at which he was being held. …the fact that his underwear clad ass was up in the air over Joe's shoulder didn't help matters, either.
Dean looked up to see Bobby shaking his head at him as he was carried away. Dean felt the familiar twinge in his stomach as guilt set in. He'd made Bobby look bad and he knew it.
A surprise swat landed on his upturned rump.
"Ow!" Dean yelled out, too surprised to be able to contain his exclamation of pain.
"That's for ruining our hunt," Joe told him.
Dean looked over and saw that Jody appeared quite pleased by Joe's actions. She then shot Dean a withering look. Dean lowered his head and inwardly groused that the Thelgeth hadn't numbed his ass for him.
Another slap rang out in the air, "That's for having to carry you."
Dean jerked and grunted from the pain.
"Stop it, you sonnafabitch!" Dean growled. "Ow!"
"That's for the foul language in front of the lady," Joe told him.
Dean heard Jody chuckle. She was clearly flattered by Joe. That bastard, Dean thought as he glared at the ground, unable to do anything to help himself.
"Where do you want him?" Joe asked her.
"Buckled into the passenger seat, if it's not too much trouble," she told him.
Dean heard her opening the door and was slumped into the front seat a moment later.
Joe looked him in the eye as he righted him in the seat and buckled him in, "Don't you give her any trouble."
Dean held Joe's gaze, glaring at him until Joe stood up and closed the door. He could hear the two of them talk a moment before Jody opened her door and climbed in.
She gave Dean a stern look for a moment before her face softened, "Are you sure you're alright?" she asked, fussing over him as she leaned over to check for injuries, then pulling a blanket from the back seat and tucking it around him.
"I'm okay," Dean answered quietly, taken aback, embarrassed and now even more wracked with guilt.
Jody ran her hand over the side of his face, much like he remembered his mother doing when he had worried her. He closed his eyes and leaned into it.
"I'm very disappointed with what you did," she said in a stern voice. Dean's eyes flew open at the change in demeanor, and his eyes locked on hers like a deer in headlights. "You're a very lucky young man. I hope you realize that. You ever do something like that again," she warned, giving him a meaningful look. "Now, we're going home while Bobby cools down here. It's a four hour drive; you should be able to walk on your own by the time we get there." At that, she started the car and drove off.
Dean snuck glances at her as she drove, oddly comforted and yet confused at the maternal way she was dealing with him.
After a while he asked, "How long do you think it'll be til Bobby…"
"Bobby will be back to deal with you soon enough," she said, keeping her eyes on the road. "You just lean back and rest; you've had a rough day."
Dean blushed, wondering if she knew just how Bobby would be dealing with him, cuz he sure as hell knew! Dean closed his eyes and leaned his head against the car window, hoping against hope that Bobby hadn't rattled on about what he was going to do to him once he got his hands on him during the ride down with Jody.
Next thing Dean knew, he was being shaken awake.
"We're home," Jody was saying to him. "Can you move? I won't be able to move you."
Dean opened his eyes to see that Jody had moved since her family had been killed. She now lived in a two story white farmhouse with flowering shrubs in front. She drove past the house to a two car detached garage in the back.
"Can you move?" she asked again.
Dean stretched, shaking off sleepiness, and then checked to see that he could move his arms, legs, hands, feet, fingers and toes. "Yup, I'm good."
Jody chuckled, parking the car, "Well, you're the worst driving partner I've ever had. When's the last time you got a good night's sleep?" The irritated motherly tone was back.
Dean looked at her a bit wide eyed, "Ummm…" he started, thinking back.
Jody shook her head, "Too long. When's the last time you ate?"
Dean flashed a winning smile, knowing he had this one, "This morning. Stopped at a little diner…"
Jody gave him a look, "When's the last time you ate something good for you?"
She could tell by the way Dean blinked at her in a blank way that she wasn't going to get a reasonable answer. "You hungry?"
"I'm alright," Dean told her as his stomach growled.
"You trying to get in trouble with me today, too?" she said, giving him a sideways stern look that was more playful than anything.
Dean ducked his head, "No, m'am."
"Good boy, why don't you get your pants on and come on in and I'll cook you something," she told him before getting out of the car.
Dean grabbed his jeans and slunk into them and then followed her inside, surprised that he wasn't the least bit shaky or uncoordinated from the Thelgeth's spit. He followed her in through the side door that led into the remodeled kitchen, and she pulled a stool back from the counter for him to sit at.
Dean sat and watched her slink out of her sheriff's jacket and put on an apron before going through the fridge and cupboards as she hummed. It was nice, and Dean was happy to just sit and relax.
"How about a nice salad and homemade chicken pot pie?" she asked him after assessing her stores.
"Pie? Yea, that'd be great, thanks – but no salad for me. Thanks though," Dean answered with a smile, sitting up a bit straighter, excited about the meal. He deflated a bit at the look she gave him.
"I'm afraid the salad isn't optional, young man."
Dean wrinkled his nose a bit, but nodded. "Ok Jody," he answered a bit softly.
Nodding, Jody set about cooking and soon the kitchen was filled with the delicious scent of chicken pot pie. "You can go rest in the guest room if you like," she told him from over the stove. "You look like you could use some more rest."
Dean stood up and stretched, "Nah, I'm good. Hey, have any beer?"
She rounded on him, pointing the wooden spoon she was using at him, "Not for you. You're going to eat healthy while you're under my roof. I got a pretty good idea of how you boys eat spending the day with Bobby yesterday," she told him matter-of-factly. "You're welcome to have unsweetened tea, milk, water or coconut water – alcohol is off limits."
Dean's jaw dropped and he stared at her for a moment before just nodding. "I'll have some…" Dean didn't really know what to ask for, his usual choices were alcohol, coffee or soda.
"I'll make you some hot tea," she told him, grabbing a mug.
Dean looked at her warily, "Mmmm."
That got him a raised eyebrow and an amused grin. A few minutes later she sat a steaming mug of tea in front of him.
Dean took a cautionary sip, eyes wide and brow knit, before deciding that he, in fact, liked the tea. "This isn't bad," he told her.
"It's green tea," she told him, chuckling at the look that information got her.
Dean glared at the tea in complete disgust for about two seconds before shrugging and drinking more of it. Jody shook her head and went back to cooking.
After a good amount of small talk the meal was ready, and Dean helped set the table. "I'll put Bobby's back in when he gets here," she said as Dean carried over the other two chicken pot pies to the table.
Sitting down, Dean picked up his fork and was about to dig in when Jody said, "Ah ah, salad first," setting a rather large salad full of tomatoes, cauliflower, romaine lettuce and more in front of him.
"Where's the bacon? …and the croutons?...and the ranch dressing?" Dean griped, glaring at the salad.
Jody set down two bottles in front of him, "Here's some oil and vinegar."
Dean rolled his eyes and poked at the salad until Jody put some oil and vinegar on it for him. "Get eating, I want at least half of that in your stomach before you touch your pot pie," she told him as she ate her own salad.
Dean sighed, but did as he was told and found that the salad wasn't all that bad. It wasn't what he'd consider good, but it wasn't as horrible as he thought. As soon as half of it was eaten, he made a point of showing her his plate, "Can I eat the real food now?" He asked, and then seeing her expression added a "…please?"
Jody nodded and Dean dove in, it was pot pie heaven: oozing, gooey, savory goodness that Dean all but inhaled. Finishing in minutes flat, Dean pushed his empty plate away with a smile as he rubbed his full belly.
"That was delicious," he told her thankfully.
"Thanks," she said, finishing up. "Why don't you rest while I take care of the dishes," she told him.
"I…" Dean started to argue.
"Now," she told him, using her best mommy voice. "Out the kitchen and to the right, you can't miss it."
Dean lowered his head and obeyed, easily finding the small rose colored room with its chintz covered bed. Kicking off his boots, he eased down onto the bed and tried to rest, listening to the sounds of Jody doing the dishes in the kitchen. Every time he was close to sleep the image of Bobby looking at him in disappointment came to him, and Dean was jarred awake. It wasn't often Bobby ever gave him such a look, Dean could count on one hand the number of times it'd happened. He was surprised that images of the Thelgeth weren't haunting him more, but somehow the idea of disappointing Bobby was more terrifying to him. After about a half hour he gave up, slipped his boots back on and found Jody watching tv on the couch.
"Can't sleep," he said pitifully when she gave him a questioning look.
"You ok?" she asked.
Dean nodded sullenly and stood there awkwardly.
"Wanna talk about it?" she asked.
Dean shook his head no.
"Wanna sit and watch tv with me?"
Dean thought about that, and then shrugged.
"Your car didn't seem to be running quite right," he said instead.
"Oh, yeah – it's been a little funny, been meaning to take it in. Bobby said he'd look at it for me," she said.
"I can do it," Dean said instantly. "You got tools?"
"I imagine Bobby does in his truck, it's out back. You sure you don't wanna sit? You've had a rough day," Jody said to him, concerned.
Dean gave her a grin that didn't quite meet his eyes, "Naw, I'm best when I have a project." Then he turned and walked out through the kitchen, hoping to please both Bobby and Jody by fixing the car. It was an added bonus that it would also get his mind off the inevitable.
"Come here, Dean. Now," Bobby ground out, snapping the belt again, tired of Dean's stalling.
Dean snapped out of his thoughts and sighed sadly as did as he was told, walking right up to Bobby, his brow knit.
"Drop'em," Bobby said, nodding to Dean's jeans.
Dean blushed and lowered his head. "Yes sir," he answered quietly, pulling his jeans down.
"Those come down, too," Bobby nodded to Dean's underwear.
"Bobby, please," Dean begged, but Bobby gave him a stern look and waited.
Dean looked at Bobby sadly from under his lashes and then complied, his eyes taking on a sheen as he pulled them down to just under his cheeks. God, I'm such a screw up, Dean thought to himself.
Bobby gave him a hard look for a long moment as though he were picking just the right words to say.
He's totally disgusted with me, what did I do? It was agonizing for Dean to wait, but then suddenly Bobby grabbed him by the arm and bent him over his hip. Dean felt somewhat comforted by the contact, but felt he didn't deserve it. Bobby pushed Dean's underwear down further to about mid-thigh.
"I almost lost you today to your damn arrogance, boy! This suicidal independence thing you got goin' on ends now," Bobby didn't bother warming Dean up with his hand, and instead started right away with the belt. He wanted to make sure Dean never did anything so suicidal again.
"Ow, Bobby! Not the belt, please not the belt!" Dean barked out in pain, his voice raspy and thick with emotion. From the first lash of leather connecting with his sensitive cheeks, the tears were already welling and ready to spill down his face. By the fourth lash he was twisting and writhing, the pain too much to bear so suddenly.
"Yes the belt. You best settle in, we ain't anywhere close to being done," Bobby told him.
Oh God he's really mad. Dean mewled and gripped Bobby's leg with both hands, an action that worried Bobby. Dean was typically stoic through the first half of any punishment and Bobby knew from experience that Dean could take a whole hell of a lot more pain than this during a spanking.
He wasn't quite sure what to do: Should he go easy on Dean, seeing as how Dean was obviously wrestling with inner demons and was clearly beating himself up well enough on his own? Or was leaving Dean be what had led to this? ...and would going easy on him now make a repeat of such actions more likely? There was just no way of knowing, and so Bobby decided to play it safe and to give Dean the spanking they both knew he deserved because he sure as hell wasn't going to risk Dean getting himself killed.
"When I tell you somethin' is too dangerous, when I tell you to hold off and wait for me, you damn well better do what I say, Dean!" Bobby lectured, striking Dean over and over with the belt, lashing Dean's bottom to a deep rosy color and steeling his heart against the sound of Dean crying out in pain each time the leather licked him. "You understand that?"
"Yes sir," Dean rasped out as the tears fell, trying to twist his bottom from side to side away from the belt's descent. I screwed up, God, I screwed up again – I always screw up. I'm a screw up! God, it hurts – I hurt!
"It ain't ever ok for you to sneak off on a hunt, you got that?"
"But Bobby," Dean started, his voice already too close to crying for Bobby's liking.
"Dean," Bobby warned him, hoping the boy would just agree with him then and there.
"Ok Bobby," Dean agreed quickly. "Ow! M'sorry, I won't do it again. Ah!"
Bobby blinked a few times, thinking This poor kid's a mess. But Bobby knew he had to keep going. "Now we got that squared away, let's talk about you knowingly walking into a hunt unprepared."
"Ow! I shouldn't a done it," Dean said wetly, sounding pitiful.
"That's right! and you won't ever do it again, will you?" Bobby said, working lower on Dean's bottom so that Dean hopped from one foot to the other.
"OWWWW, NO! I won't – ow! – I won't do it again, I swear!" Dean was leaning heavily on Bobby for support as he started kicking his legs, so that Bobby had to carry them both to the work table and lean against it to support them both.
"Good, because I am not gonna be happy with you at all if you do that again, you hear? I'll whoop your ass so hard you won't sit for a month! Understood?" Bobby growled, laying into Dean's sit spots hard.
"Yes sir, understood," Dean answered immediately over his tears, ashamed that he was crying hard now.
"You wanna tell me why we found beer in your hunt bag?"
Dean's eyes widened in surprise, "I.." he couldn't think of any reason other than the obvious one and whimpered, "I'm sorry, Bobby!"
Bobby punctuated his words with a lash of the belt, "So [OW] you're [OW] telling [OW] me that [OWW] not only did you disobey me[OW OW OWWW] and take that Thelgeth on alone [OW AHHH OW OW OWWW], you also planned on boozing [OWWWWW OWWWOWWW] during the hunt [OWW OWWWW OWWWWW OWWWOOWWW]?!"
Dean's mouth contorted as he tried and failed not to sob and he wiped at the tears streaming down his face, "Y-yessir," he finally managed after a moment.
Bobby shook his head, "Why would you do something so stupid?"
"I guess I'm stupid," Dean said over a sob before thinking.
Bobby laid down ten stripes to Dean's thighs in quick succession, and by the end Dean was yelling.
"Oh yea, that's it – that's how you've survived this long: being stupid," Bobby mocked.
"I always had someone with me for the brains," Dean argued.
Bobby cursed himself, angry that he hadn't done more to work on the kid's self-loathing after Dean had sold his soul to save his brother. "That's bullshit and you know it Dean," Bobby said, giving him three more whacks. "I didn't think you needed these Hallmark moments, but now you're gettin' one! Never in my life have I known a better damn hero than you. The way you see a problem and work through it to solve it is not something most people can do – that takes brains, boy, and you got'em. Not to mention the fact that you'd do anything to help someone else. You see many other people steppin' up to the plate, doing what you're doin'? Cuz I sure as hell don't. Every step of the way you've thought about others first, put yourself last – which is normally a good quality, but not when ya do it out of self-hate! AND NOT WHEN YOU TAKE RISKS THAT YOU DAMN WELL KNOW ARE STUPID! Now, there ain' no damn reason for this hatred you got for yourself, Dean, and I am not puttin' up with it anymore. I even sense that you're feeling that way again, and you're gonna be sittin' funny for a week, you got that?"
Dean was a blubbering mess, giving a barely understandable 'yessir' as he clung to Bobby, trusting the older man with his full weight as he continued to cry.
Bobby stood there feeling awkward and heartbroken as he held Dean, waiting for him to stop crying. After a moment he pulled Dean's underwear and then his jeans up for him, concerned that Dean still hadn't stood up when he'd done so.
Dean, meanwhile, was lost in his own misery. His thoughts were with Sammy, remembering the look on his brother's face when he'd found out about Amy and the look on his face when he'd told Dean that he needed time apart. He thought of Cas and how his angel had fallen so low, all because of me. He knew he was responsible for Cas's death, and yet couldn't reconcile in his mind what Castiel had done, how they had become enemies. It just wasn't supposed to end that way! The look on Amy's son's face came back to haunt him as well, and he shuddered.
"What's goin' on in that head of yours?" Bobby finally asked, fear evident in his voice.
Dean didn't answer and instead stood up and tried to pull away, all the while continuing to cry.
Bobby was having none of it, catching Dean and holding him by the shoulders as he told him, "You can start talking or I can start spanking again – what's it gonna be?"
Dean looked at Bobby through his tears, his breath hitching, "I screw everything up" he just managed to get out.
Bobby's eyes went wide, it scared him to see Dean this way and a part of him wondered just how long it'd been since the boy had had a drink. Bobby shook his head and pulled Dean into a crushing hug, feeling Dean bury his head into his neck. "You don't screw everything up, Dean, they're that way before you even get to'em. It's got nothin' to do with you," Bobby soothed, rubbing Dean's back.
Dean tried to reign in his tears, and they were getting under control, falling silently now, but it was as though a dam had been broken. They just kept falling.
"I really wasn't tryin' to hurt myself, Bobby," came Dean's muffled voice from Bobby's chest.
"Good to hear," Bobby said, a sense of relief coming over him.
For some reason, that got him chuckles from Dean. Bobby shook his head, completely confused and in totally new territory. He just kept rubbing and patting Dean's back, hoping the man he knew would reappear soon.
"If I was gonna try and take myself out on purpose, I'd do it with more style," Dean suddenly joked, looking up at Bobby with a smirk. "You know, explosions, chicks dancin' – that sort of thing!"
"You'd better stop giving the subject so much thought," Bobby warned with a grin, which got more chuckles out of Dean as the last of the tears fell.
A few moments later Dean got an awkward look on his face and pulled out of the embrace. Standing there looking around awkwardly he finally looked back at Bobby and raised his eyebrows, "Tuned up Jody's car while you were gone. One less thing for you to do."
Bobby smiled, "Thanks."
Dean nodded, and then with a grin said "She's got homemade chicken pot pie waiting for you."
"Does she, now?" Bobby's smile widened.
"Sooo," Dean said, looking around awkwardly again.
"You know Sam's gonna come back, right? He's just hotheaded like his father," Bobby told him.
Dean ducked his head, but Bobby could tell some of the pain was gone. "Yea, I know," Dean told him with a grin. "…those two," he shook his head and laughed.
"Are you boys ever coming back inside?" Jody's voice surprised them both. "Some hunters you are," she said with a grin at the surprised looks on their faces.
Seeing Dean's tear stained face she quickly walked over to him and hugged him. "You poor thing, let's get you inside. I'm making a peach pie for later, do you like pie?"
Bobby laughed, "Does Dean like pie?!"
"Pie?" Dean asked brightly with an excited smile.
It was Jody's turn to laugh as the three went into the house for a nice evening.
The End.